Pretty much all my family lines go back to ancestry in the UK. I think a lot of people would be in the same position. The only problem is that sometimes if feels like an alien world trying to figure out where you can find the records that you want in another country. But having ancestry in the UK is probably going to be a lot easier than you think. It can also be very interesting to delve into another country and go further back in time. Life was very different even from our Australian ancestors to our UK ones.
The birth death and marriages are still the most important thing to search for in making sure that we are following the right lines. For Britain and Wales the General Register Office https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/ is where you order birth death and marriages certificates. For Scottish birth death and marriages then you need to visit http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ . For Ireland, you first need to figure out whether it is Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland records that you need. For Northern Ireland then visit the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland at http://www.proni.gov.uk/. If you need records for the Republic of Ireland (Dublin is the capital) then search through the records at http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/ this website is run by the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht.
With the British and Welsh records there is a General Register Office (GRO) index number to provide to pay less and to find the right record. The recommendation for finding that information for free and online is to go to the website www.freebmd.org.uk and search for free. However if you have access to a subscription website like ancestry.co.uk then you can search and take note of the index number from there. (Please note that on the ancestry website that you can purchase the certificate but the cost is a lot higher than just ordering it directly through the GRO online.) Also many historical societies also have access to the index numbers on microfiche, so enquire at your local society too. The GRO index number references the year, the quarter (eg January to March), the district and sometimes a volume and page number. The record may look like March 1873 St Olave Southwark (Volume) 1d (Page) 247. The first available record is from the 1st July 1837.
I hope the websites will help you on your way to finding your ancestry in the UK. The records to make your ancestry come to life are all out there waiting to be found. Going to the websites and ordering your ancestors birth death and marriages certificates makes sure that the lines your are following are not wasting your time. Anyone can put anything on the internet and it can be a hint of something real. But to make sure that it is always remember to go and get the documents to prove it. Thank you for reading my blog and don’t be shy, either comment on topics you would like to see in the ask a question box or share the article with friends and family.
